Base feeder



J. J. MALLOY BASE FEEDER Filed July 28,v 1937 Nov. 15, 1938.

Inventor: John J. Mallog,

His Att ovh e g.

Patented Nov. 15, 1938 PATENT OFFICE BASE FEEDER.

John J. Malloy, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to General ElectricNew York Company, `a. corporation of Application July 28, 1937, SerialNo. 156,149

4 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding y articles and moreparticularly to apparatus for feeding lamp bases and the like. Prior tomy invention, lamp bases and the like were usually fed manually becausedevices for this purpose operated very irregularly being often renderedinoperative by foreign matter and small pieces of glass jarred loose bythe movements of the devices and by slight imperfections in the bases.To eliminate these objections, my device provides a relatively simpleand inexpensive apparatus for the feeding operation which is not easilyrendered inoperative by foreign matter, and satisfactory means fordischarging the greater portion of the foreign matter introduced intothe device with the bases and separating it therefrom prior to theactual feeding of the bases. My device also provides a particularlynovel apparatus for inverting such bases as are advanced to thedischarge position in the incorrect position. Other features andadvantages of my device will be apparent from the detailed descriptionwhich follows and from the accompanying drawing of one species thereof.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a base feeding devicecomprising my invention with the hopper shown in section; Fig. 2 is asection along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking downward; Fig. 3 is an angularside elevation of a portion of my device; and Figs. 4 and 5 are sideelevations, partially in section, of the feeding and inverting portionsof my device in two stages of operation.

Referring to the drawing, the device is shown mounted on the table of alamp making machine adjacent to the periphery of a turret Ill which isindexed at regular intervals to present succee'ding heads II thereon tomy device. Each head II receives a single base I2 which, in thisinstance, is the screw type used for miniature lamps and consists of acylindrical threaded metal shell I2' lopen at one end and closed at theother end by a plug of insulating material I1, except for a small holethrough which a lead wire is subsequently threaded. The bases I2 thatare fed are carried in the hopper I3 which is mounted on the standard Ilwhich in turn is mounted on the table I5 of the lamp machine. Duringoperation of the device the bases I2 gradually (Cl. 193-43) l otherforeign matter capable of injuring the device or interrupting theoperation thereof to fall therefrom. Operation of the device carries the`tube I6. and the plunger I8 up into the hopper I3 to agitato the basesI2 therein so that generally said bases I2 pass quite regularly into theend of the tube I6 and keep it completely lled. The plunger I8 dislodgesthe bases I2 that tend to form a bridge over the opening in the hopperIl and the tube I6. To permit the bases I2, and especially thoseagitated by the plunger I8, to pass into the tube I6 more easily, asection I9 is cut from the upper end of said tube. Both the tube I6 andplunger I8 are attached to the block 20, the former by means of thebracket 2l and the thumb screws 22, and the latter by screws not shown,and are moved vertically by movement of said block on the rectangularcolurrm 23. The column 23 is a stationary member atttached to thestandard I4 and passes through ways in the block 20 in which it is heldby the plate 24 attached thereto. The desired movement of block 20 isproduced by mechanism (not shown) actuating the rod 25 and operated bythe usual cam on a driven shaft of the lamp machine. The rod 25- engagesthe block 20 through block 26 and the plate 24.

A base I2 is presented to the lamp machin each time the tube I6 movesdown into registration with the heads II of said machine although twobases I2 are constantly being advanced in order through the feedingportion thereof, 'as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The particular up and downmovement used in feeding the base I2 into the head I I is also usedtoseparate the following base I2 from the others above it so that two upand down movements of the tube I6 are required to advance a base I2through the feeding portion of my device. All the bases I2 move down inthe passage in the tube I6 as the lower ones are fed and finally onecomes into position before the end of thev finger or slide 21 which isbrought into engagement therewith, as shown in Fig. 4, to preventfurther movement. These operations take place during the latter portionof the up stroke of the tube I6 and block 20 during which the roller 28which is attached to the nger 21 passes into the wider portion of theopening 29 in the stationary cam 30. The following return downwardmovement of the block 20 causes the end of the nger or slide 3| which islocated nearer the discharge end of the tube I6 to move into the passagetherein and causes the linger 21 to withdraw therefrom so that the baseI2 drops down into engagement with said finger 3|` as 65 shown in Fig.5. The nger 3l is movedby the advancement of the roller 32 thereon intothe wider portion of the opening 33 in the cam 38. The succeeding upwardmovement of the tube Il and block 28 causes the nger 21 to move inagainst the base I2 following the former base I2 and then causes thenger y3l to retract, thereby releasing the lowermost base I2so that itfalls down by its own weight onto the hooked ilnger or slide 34 to theposition shown in Fig. 4. If the lowermost base I2 has caught on thebase I2 ,held by the ilnger 21, it is released by the finger 35 (Figs. 2and 3), which is pivotally mounted on the stationary standard I4 andextends through a slot in the tube I 6, during a latter portion of theupward movement of said tube and catches .on the threads of the saidlowermost base I2 thereby preventing it from following said upwardmovement. At the end of the upward movement, the nger 35 is withdrawnfrom the slot so that the base I2 falls down onto iinger 34. Thewithdrawal of said nger 35 is caused by the striking of screw 36 againstthe outer end of said finger 35 which turns it about the pin 31 in thestandard I4 on which it is mounted and compresses the spring 38. 'I'hescrew 36 is mounted on the arm 39 extending from the bracket 2I and isbrought against the ilnger 35 by the upward movement'thereo'f.

At this point in the operation of my device, the turret I0 of themachine is indexed so that a succeeding head I I comes into positionbelow the tube I6, and the tube I6 and the block 20 move down until theend of said tube I6 registers with the machine head Il as shown inFig. 1. During this movement the finger 34 is withdrawn from the tube I6since the roller 4I) thereon passes into the narrowest part 4II' (Fig.4) of the opening 28 in the stationary cam 38, and the base I2 restingYon saidnger 34 is; permitted to pass down through the tube I B and intothe head' I I. If the particular base I2 resting on the linger 34 liesin an upright position with its insulating plug I'I lowermost, saidfinger 34 moves back without altering the position of said base I2 andthe said base moves down while stllin thisposition, but should the baseI2 lie in an inverted position with the plug I'I uppermost, as shown inFig. 4, the open edge of the base shell I2' is caught by the hooked end42 of the nger 34 and pulled into the chamber or opening 4I in the sideof the tube I 6 so that it is caused to turn over, as shown in Fig. 5.This operation causes all bases I2 to be fed into the machine with'theopen end of the shell I2 uppermost as required. The fingers 21, 3l and34 are held in slide ways in the block 28 by the plate 43 attachedthereto andare pushed inward toward the tube I6 so that the rollers'28,.

32 and 48 follow the various surfaces of the cam 30 in each case by aspring 44 like that shown adjacent nger 34 located in a hole 45 (Figs. 2and 5) in the block 2li.y 'I'he finger 34 engages the spring 44 througha pin 48 extending through a slot-in the block 20 and into the groove inthe piston 41 which is located in the hole 45 behind one end of thespring 44. Since my device feeds a base `I2 each time it moves down andis connected to the machine so that this movement occurs regularly withthe operation thereof, the screw 48 is provided for' engaging one of thebases I2 and thereby stopping the movement of bases through my devicewhen desired. The slots 49 in the bracket 2i and the tube I6 permit themovements of the bases I2 to be observed and permit easy removal offoreign material and bases I2 wedged in said tube I8. If bases havinglaterally projecting bayonet pins are being fed by my device, suitablelongitudinally extending grooves are provided in the tube therefor andthe proper positioningv thereof is accomplished by funnellike upper endportions of said grooves.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a device of the class described for feeding bases comprising acylindrical shell having one end substantially closed, a feeder tube forpassage of said bases therethrough having a chamber in the wall thereof,and means located adjacent to said chamber for inverting such bases asapproach said chamber with their open ends foremost, said meanscomprising a finger having a hook portion extending into said tube andadapted to engage the open end of a base, and means for withdrawing saidnnger into said chamber to cause said base to be inverted.

2. In a device of the class described for feeding bases comprising acylindrical shell having one end substantially closed, the combinationof a hopper having an opening at the bottom thereof, an upright feedertube having its upper end located in alignment with said opening andhaving an opening in the wall thereof, and means located adjacent to theopening in said tube for inverting such bases as approach said openingwith their open ends lowermost, said means comprising a finger having ahook portion extending into said tube through the opening therein andadapted to engage the open edge of a base, and means for retracting saidilnger through said opening to cause said base to -be inverted.

3. In a device of the class described for feeding bases comprising acylindrical shell having one end substantially closed, the combinationof a hopper having an opening at the bottom thereof, an upright feedertube having its upper end located in alignment with said opening andhaving an opening in the wall thereof, means for moving said tube upwardinto said hopper to agitate the bases therein and cause some of them toenter the tube, and means located adjacent to the opening in said tubefor inverting such bases as approach said opening with their open endslowermost, said means comprising a ilnger having a hook portionextending into said tube through the opening therein and adapted toengage the open edge of a base, and means for retracting said ngerthrough said opening to cause Said base to be inverted. Y Y

4. In a device of the class described for feeding bases comprising acylindrical shell having one end substantially closed, the combinationof a hopper having an opening at the bottom thereof, an upright feedertube having its upper end 1ocated in alignment with said opening, andfeed control means located adjacent to said tube and comprising fingerslocated in alignment with openings in said tube, means for reciprocatingsaid fingers to cause them to engage and release one of the bases insaid tube to cause said bases to be fed one ata time, another lingerhaving a l1ook portion extending into said tube through an openingtherein and adapted to engage the open edge of such bases as approach itwith their open ends lowermost, and means for retracting saidlast-mentioned finger to pull the said open edge of such base toward thesaid cause said base to be inverted.

JOHN J. MALLOY.

Opening and

